The Management of Peace Processes

In recent years, the resolution of violent conflicts has undergone significant changes. The UN-dominated interventions of the late 1980s have been replaced by a new form of peace process. This typically involves the protagonists more directly in the process, with external interventions from regional and neighbouring countries rather than the UN, in attempts to move protracted ethnic conflicts towards some sort of political accommodation. Yet there are few comparative analyses of how these peace processes are managed and how they tackle obstacles such as violence during negotiations or re-integrating former combatants into civil society. The Management of Peace Processes has monitored five peace processes (Israel/Palestine, South Africa, the Basque Country, Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland) over more than two years. Based on interviews with senior politicians and policy-makers involved in all five peace processes, it identifies those factors which facilitate or block political movement in deeply divided societies. It highlights issues of negotiation and constitutional change, political violence, economics, external influences, public opinion and symbolism. The book also challenges a number of commonly accepted views associated with peace processes such as the existence of peace dividends, the role of leaders and the impact of violence on negotiations.

John Darby is Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Ulster. Roger Mac Ginty is editor of the Ethnic Conflict Research Digest.